1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a way of automatically and non-invasively estimating the amount of alcohol consumed by a consumer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Driving motor vehicles while impaired due to excessive alcohol consumption is a major problem in many areas. Patrons that consume alcohol may not realize the amount of alcoholic beverages that they have consumed. This lack of understanding, coupled with impairment and judgment deficiencies brought about by alcohol consumption, can lead a person to drive a vehicle from an establishment, such as a restaurant or pub, when they are legally impaired.
Some jurisdictions have addressed this issue by placing liability on the establishment that served the individual alcohol. While this shifts some of the responsibility, it often does result in establishments policing customers and cutting off customers that are over the limit. To abide by these laws, establishments traditionally rely on judgment of employees such as wait-staff, bartenders, servers, and the like. These employees are often poorly trained with respect to identifying customers over the limit. In addition, due to large number of customers at some establishments, these employees have a difficult time identifying which customers are driving as well as keeping track of how many drinks a particular customer has consumed. Exacerbating these challenges is the fact that simply keeping track of the number of drinks a customer has consumed does not result in a good measure of a customer's intoxication level without also keeping track of other factors related to the customer, such as the customer's weight and gender. Indeed, due to the effects of consuming too much alcohol, consumers' judgments may become impaired so that they forget how many drinks they have consumed and may also have a mistaken belief that they are sober enough to drive an automobile when, in fact, their driving ability may be impaired.
One approach that some establishments have used is to provide breathalyzers that, when used by a customer, provides a digital result of a customer's blood-alcohol limit. A challenge of this approach, however, is that it is quite invasive and may likely result in customers refusing to take the breathalyzer test or refraining from visiting the establishment, resulting in a loss of business, and revenue, for the establishment.